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The production company THINK Corporation announced on Thursday that the Showa Monogatari (Showa-Era Story) film and television series will launch next year. The original story follows the human drama of the Yamazaki family in Tokyo in the year Showa 39 (1964) — the year that the city hosted the Summer Olympics. According to Think, the "TV manga" is "the world's first anime aimed at seniors," although it is also targeted at families. ... The film, which is about 100 minutes long, will open in Japan on January 29, 2011. The television series of 13 30-minute episodes will follow in April, although a television special will air at the end of 2010.

Although the TV series is due to air in April, the broadcast schedule says four episodes will preview starting 2010-12-30 in the lead-up to the movie's release on 2011-01-29. It's not clear how the movie's storyline relates to the TV series, e.g. which one is set first.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to it. While historical family dramas are a staple of live-action TV in Japan, it's not often we see them animated. The cast and crew bring age and experience, and going by the target demographic it won't be out to push the usual otaku-centric buttons.

For those interested in such things, a few thoughts on the 1964 setting:

Spoiler for proof that brevity really is the soul of wit:

The Olympics were a huge event for post-war Japan, so for people old enough to remember them 1964 would be a significant year. Andrew Gordon's A Modern History of Japan talks about them in the context of TV's growing influence on Japanese society at the time:

Quote:

Both ordinary programs and coverage of big events made it clear that Japan's post-war modern life was part of a global modern culture common to the advanced capitalist world. Several spectacles of the 1960s and 1970s were promoted as signs that Japan had reentered international society as a full member in good standing. Authorities used these occasions to boost social order and patriotism. ... [T]he first and most significant was the Eighteenth Summer Olympiad, held in Tokyo in 1964.

In some ways the event did not meet expectations. Controversy marked plans to finance the Olympics, and the numbers of foreign tourists fell far short of predictions. In another example of its impulse to manage society, the government used the event as an occasion for a variety of social reform campaigns. It called on citizens to improve public hygiene and sanitation and exhorted shopkeepers to curtail shady retail sales tactics. The Ministry of Education seized the moment to expand coverage of "patriotism" and increase the compulsory character of "moral education" or "civics" courses in schools.

But it was the mass media, television above all, that made the Olympics a high-impact cultural event. The games won unprecedented ratings: an 84 percent share for the opening ceremony and an 85 percent share for the women's volleyball finals. The Japanese team won the gold medal and became national heroes. ... [The Olympics] sparked a media-induced surge of national pride in peaceful collective achievements in economy, technology, sports and culture.

(pp263-264)

Yet despite basking in this glow of national unity, it was only five years later that riot police were battling student protesters on the University of Tokyo campus. Perhaps Japanese society in the mid-60s wasn't as uniformly contented as TV would have people believe? It'll be interesting to see if the anime is pure rose-tinted nostalgia or whether it goes beyond that.

Beside from the obvious parallel with Beijing 2008, Gordon's mention of the government's pre-Games social reforms caught my attention for another reason: 1964 was the year Tokyo introduced its "Healthy Development of Youth" Ordinance, which I have a notion has been in the news recently...

Enough rambling, I just hope someone subs this despite it being outside the usual fare.

This looks interesting. There's already a positive blog review up, but I haven't evens seen a raw yet. I strongly suspect no one will sub this one, but I hope they do - it's certainly different from any other series this season.

I have only just heard about this series but I am definitely in. I love slice of life anime like this. I really hope someone will sub it if it's not going to be on a simulcast but I am a little worried no one will or at best it will subbed extremely slowly.

I enjoyed the first two episodes, even though I could only follow the obvious parts of the dialogue. They've really put the work into those detailed backgrounds - I can imagine lots of "omg I remember that!" moments for older Japanese viewers. The way they wove historic photos into the OP was also pretty neat (brings back memories of the Abenobashi ED sequence).

For those of us who didn't grow up in 1960s Japan, well I think Kōhei's relationship with his father is a story as old as the human race. This has me totally stumped though - is that some form of home healthcare, or is it his punishment for spending the shopping money on manga?

Maybe someone will sub the movie, even if the TV series gets ignored...

Just saw two episodes of this, where I could only pick up the odd gist here and there due to my limited and practically non-existent Nihongo skills...
But it looked interesting. It's a shame it looks like nobody is fansubbing this, as it would make a nice change from the usual otaku fare.

Although I am wondering just what the hell is going on at the 7:30 point in episode 2... I mean, he's spent his mum's change on manga but WHAT IS SHE DOING???

If there's ever an anime that's not really targeted at foreign audiences, this would be it. A nostalgia trip back to the 1960s, at the time of Japan's coming-of-age. So, it's perhaps appropriate that the series "proper" starts at this point, just before the elder son's own coming-of-age ceremony.

I reminded right away of Isao Takahata's movies but, thankfully, the tone is more even here, and not so obviously elegiac. Not necessarily a feeling of, "woe is us, the past was so much better"; just more a feeling of wistful reminiscence, the kind you'd get when flipping through your parents' photo albums.

Like Guardian_Enzo, I very much enjoyed the "walking tour" epilogue, and the flashbacks to 1960s Japan in the OP. I have my own reasons for enjoying the episode, as social and economic developments here in South-east Asia mirrored Japan's own, albeit about 10 years later.

So things like the emerging tension between a younger generation aspiring to bigger things rather than inheriting a family business; the highs and lows of a multi-generational family living under one roof; simple festival observances like New Year's prayers and allowances (similar observances exist here, though practised differently and at different times of the year), there all ring a bell for me.

The interesting thing, therefore, would be to observe how Western audiences react to this. Historians and sociologists, or people who have an interest in Japan, would like this anime, no doubt, but how would they relate to it, I wonder, since the issues are largely dissimilar to those of their own societies.

A big THANK YOU to Hatsuyuki-Hadena for subbing this. I hope they continue.

While I guess for the target audience it's very much a nostalgia thing, that's pretty much lost on everyone who isn't Japanese and old enough to remember the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

For the rest of is, it could be an interesting look at what life was like there and then. While in many anime we're glimpsing another culture through its fiction, this promises to be more true to life.
So it's a show I'm hoping to see more of.

Love the OP, with the blend from present day, to past time, to animation. Absolutely loved the little stroll at the end. That was wonderful.

While I guess for the target audience it's very much a nostalgia thing, that's pretty much lost on everyone who isn't Japanese and old enough to remember the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. For the rest of is, it could be an interesting look at what life was like there and then. While in many anime we're glimpsing another culture through its fiction, this promises to be more true to life.

Well, the thing about nostalgia is that pretty much every society loves recalling its halcyon days. The United States has its fair share of shows that tap this longing, the most recent of which would be Mad Men, for example.

So, it would be interesting, I feel, not just to see how life looked in Japan at the time, but also to reflect on how things were unfolding elsewhere at the same time. Events in Japan weren't happening in isolation, after all. The 1960s were a tumultuous time in world history. It wasn't just Japan that was coming of age — so were the people of the baby boomer generation, everywhere around the world.

Looking back, one can't help but be amazed by the earth-shaking events of the past that changed the future irrevocably. By comparison, everyday life today does seem like a dull, never-ending present. In a way, Francis Fukuyama was right: History ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union's collapse. There isn't a "grand narrative" any more.

First thing off the top of my head is that, even with the historical nuances, the setting still feels very contemporary. The characters and their lives don't seem like they would be out of place in today's world at all. Though there's some definite contrast between the present and the past, such as the comparison photos in the OP, I think it's very easy to forget that this is 1964 and not 2011.

I saw that in Kouhei's character in particular. Things like waiting up for New Years (while failing miserably ) and getting anxious over allowance are very familiar things for me, though it would be a few months later for me than it would be for him. I saw plenty of parallels between my family and his, particularly between Kouhei and myself, so that had a bit more impact for me. Fortunately for my parents, I wasn't sneaking out and looking at naughty pictures. Considering my background, it might be a little easier for me to relate to some the cultural issues that this series will pick up on that my heritage and theirs share.

That said, I enjoyed the historical references and throwbacks, even though I'm sure I only managed to catch a few of them. I know I smiled at Ryou's line of work, for one.

Going back to the Yamazaki family and friends, I have a positive opinion on how they've been set up so far. The most evident thing, of course, is that they're very normal. You could probably easily find similar people in life if you looked. I do want to comment on the elder brother, Taichi; I had a very bad first impression of him due to his fight with the father, but it's actually looks like they're pretty similar people. I still only have a mixed opinion about him, so I'm looking forward to the coming-of-age next episode to see how he'll further shape up.

Like just about everyone else in this thread, I enjoyed the OP (and the previously mentioned comparison shots) and the tour epilogue. For those who have watched the second episode, is that a continuing thing or is it restricted to this premiere episode?

Quote:

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Looking back, one can't help but be amazed by the earth-shaking events of the past that changed the future irrevocably. By comparison, everyday life today does seem like a dull, never-ending present. In a way, Francis Fukuyama was right: History ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union's collapse. There isn't a "grand narrative" any more.

I think that they might have felt the same way about their time, just as future generations might think back on the events of our own time and feel their flying-skateboard present is a little dull. In any case, we're all young; I think our narrative can become just as grand.

I did see one thing that felt very anachronistic - the high-five between Kohei and his sister after they got the extra New Year's money. Was the high-five really around in 1964, much less in Tokyo?

??? I have seen people from a much more backwater place than Tokyo (even from back in 1964) go through the gesture known as high five without knowing anything about it. I think its kinda universal o.0.